On The Goal

by Emily

I stayed up way too late last night waiting for Adam to get home, but that didn’t stop me from crossing not one, but two items off of my birthday goal list. See, who needs New Year’s resolutions?

But first, I made us a fancy weekend breakfast.

Actually, first I put Uggs (and a fleece I found in the dirty clothes section of Adam’s suitcase) over my pj’s to go out to Starbucks to buy Adam a coffee.

I’m a ~~frumpy~~ good wife.

After the public embarrassment, I made us eggnog french toast.

Two slices of whole wheat bread soaked in 1 large egg + 1 white, a big pour of eggnog (~1/2 cup?), 1 tsp of vanilla, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. After a quick visit to a hot skillet greased with butter, I topped my slice with berries.

And maple syrup.

Delish! I wish eggnog was a year-round treat so I could make this french toast again.

My iced coffee was from my fridge, not The Spot, but I like to reuse my cups.

1 cup of Chameleon Cold Brew with a lot of Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and a little of sweetened almond and cashew cream.

The cup was okay but the cream was disgusting and the rest of the carton went straight to the trash.

Also in the garbage? This honey basil seed drink.

The frog egg texture worked for us, but the flavor did not.

My to-go lunch was much more successful.

A riff on the black-eyed pea salad I want to eat for the rest of my life; black beans with chopped green pepper, pineapple salsa, and the last of the Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar.

Not as good as the original, but still worth eating. And it helped me achieve one of my birthday goals…

First on the list? Building a snowman!

This was my 2nd snowman ever. And my first was a inches-tall affair, decorated with buttons that were subsequently stolen, when I was three years old and in the states for a funeral; so I’m not sure that counts.

We used green pepper pieces from my lunch for eyes.

2nd achievement unlocked? A trip to the Buffalo Museum of Science.

It seemed like the perfect museum to attend with a small child, but Adam and I were ready to go well within an hour. I’m glad I went, but I never want to go back.

I got some produce into the afternoon in the form of juice.

Kale, spinach, carrot, and apple. It was tasty but sadly light on the greens.

Dinner was popcorn at a movie! A cheddar and caramel mix from a specialty shop in the mall.

I really wanted this one,

but Adam and I shared (3-1, my favor) this size instead.

We saw “Parental Guidance” and thought that the snacks were better than the show. Also, I’m very sad to report that we saw “This Is 40” on our anniversary and hated it. Jude Apatow, I so want to love you! Apparently we are not quite ready for kids?

What was the worst movie (or best!) you’ve seen recently?

4Jan2013

Fresh Fage French Onion Dip

by Emily

I did not end up watching tv last night but I didn’t go to bed for hours either. I also did not eat my coconut butter snack.

Instead I had it for breakfast.

The Artisana Cacao Bliss packet was delicious! The taste and texture reminded me of crumbly chocolate frosting. Plus it was super filling. I have two more of the packets and I’m very much looking forward to them. And yes, that is a soda in the back of the picture; breakfast didn’t happen until near noon. As it always goes the day after a migraine, my eats were all over the place today.

I got up late in a daze, made some important school calls, and then rushed out of the house to run time-sensitive errands. By the time I made my way to Wegman’s it was after 4:00 and I was starving. Hot bar to the rescue.

Asian wokery veggies, watermelon, and pineapple.

A little bit of sweet and sour pineapple chili chicken plus a Thai chicken spring roll.

And I snagged these adorable cupcake gummies from the bulk bins.

They were like little vanilla-berry pillows.

Dinner round 1 was a taco salad.

A romaine base topped with chopped green pepper, black beans, a handful of crushed Beanitos, chopped Cabot 50% light sharp cheddar, and a big scoop of Wegman’s pineapple salsa.

I gave my bowl a 30 second nuke in the microwave a few bites in and it made it even better. I think I prefer Wegman’s version of the pineapple salsa to Newman’s Own’s; the sweetness and the spice are both a little less intense.

Dinner round 2 was lightened up chips and dip.

2 servings of ruffles,

and a bowl of Fresh Fage French Onion Dip.

I’ve been craving french onion dip (with freshly caramelized onions!) for days so I decided to try my hand a lighter version. I included the recipe for the dip at the bottom of this post. It was really delicious!

Dessert was a mini pack of strawberry-filled koala cookies and a serving of Skinny Cow Peanut Butter Cream Filled Chocolates.

Both were good, but I have got to cut back on the sugar. I have been soooooo hungry this week and it’s driving me crazy.

Adam has been out-of-town the past few days and he gets back tonight = yay!!!!! We have two fun days planned this weekend and I can’t wait.

Fresh Fage French Onion Dip, serves 1-2 (Or more, if you’re into smaller – i.e. 2-3 Tbsp – servings. For 1-2 people this recipe makes a large enough bowl of dip to really scoop your chips into.)

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp evoo
1 medium sweet onion, roughly chopped
1/4 tsp plus 1 large pinch salt
7 oz container 2% Plain Fage Total yogurt
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp onion powder

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter and oil to heated pan. When butter is completely melted, stir in the onion and pinch of salt. Cook 5 – 7 minutes until onions caramelize, stirring occasionally. Remove caramelized onions from heat and let cool for 1 – 3 minutes before adding to yogurt.
Place yogurt in a large bowl. Add onions, Worcestershire, onion powder, and remaining salt and stir until well-combined. Serve with carrot sticks or ruffled chips.

What is your favorite kind of dip? I’m a buffalo chicken dip girl myself, gotta embrace the homeland!

3Jan2013

3 > 2

by Emily

I am working my way through a migraine and I want to hurry to bed with a magazine. An episode of “30 Rock” may or may not happen first though…

Yesterday was the worst day of the year (hardy har; see what I did there? it’s not really hyperbole because there have only been three days). I was cranky and out-of-control-hungry all day long and the only things I managed to do were stuff my face and sulk. I vowed that the 3rd would be better than the 2nd, and even with my migraine today was a good day. Woop.

I did start with a good breakfast.

1 serving of Cascadian Farm Berry Cobbler Granola topped with 2 handfuls of blueberries and blackberries, a sprinkle of toasted coconut, and Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

This is the breakfast that’s grrrrrrreat!

I brought my 2nd aloe drink from Aloic to work with me.

Super refreshing.

For lunch I packed some old beans. They were jolly good. <– are you slapping your knee yet? 3/4 cup black-eyed peas with a big handful of chopped green pepper, a small handful of smoked almonds, and 1 oz-ish chopped Kerrygold vintage cheddar; seasoned with salt and a few dashes of green Tabasco.

The mix of flavors and textures in this quick salad was so tasty and satisfying. Definitely a dish I need to recreate when I’m packing lunches for my big girl job for the rest of ~~the year~~ my life.

*no photograph available* I ate at least 10 mini candy canes during my shift and gave myself the worst sore throat. It was a slow day and I didn’t get much sleep so sugar was the only way I could stay awake. Terrible.

And I’m just now realizing that the massive sugar intake is probably what led to my migraine. Goddamnit.

I was already starting to feel off when I headed home from work so I picked up a slice of Buffalo chicken pizza for dinner.

With blue cheese, plus a mound of baby carrots from home.

I really could have split that giant slice with Adam (that is in fact 1 Zetti’s slice cut in half, not two normal-size slices) but he’s not here and I have no self-control so I ate the whole thing!

I’m also going to eat this packet of Artisana Cacao Bliss for dessert.

I’ll have to let you know how it is in the morning. I tried to heat it up a little and took things too far so now I’m waiting for it to resolidify.

Hope everyone has a good night!

1Jan2013

Hello, 2013

by Emily

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great first day. I started my year the best way possible – a long morning in bed with my husband and dog and an afternoon spent cleaning every trace of 2012 away from the apartment. He vacuumed and put away Christmas decorations and I organized and put away the Christmas presents. I also did some electronics cleaning; my cell phone, bookmarks, and google reader are sparkling. I even cleaned up my desktop.

Tomorrow I just have to organize my school stuff from last semester. I’ve got to start getting ready for the next (last!) semester; I go back to school in 20 days!

We started our day with smoothies for a late breakfast.

For two: 1.5 cups Silk Soy, 1.5 frozen bananas, 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, and 1 Tbsp coconut oil went into the blender.

It was yummy! I got the coconut oil idea from Jenna Marbles and I think it was a good addition.

Lunch came in snack plate form. Roasted green beans.

And a sweet plate.

Sliced honeycrisp,

smoked almonds,

and the last cherry cheesecake brownie.

The mouthfuls with almond and brownie were great. I am not going to post the brownie recipe because it is cobbled together from a few sources but I am working on something similar that should be amazing.

I also had a small coffee – with lots of skim milk and vanilla sugar – when we went to Wegmans in the afternoon.

We may have made a grocery trip, but dinner was still pieced together from random things left in the fridge. Thankfully, it ended up being delicious.

Cornmeal crusted tofu.

I marinated pieces of 3/4 of a block of extra-firm tofu in Stubbs BBQ sauce all afternoon and then tossed the pieces in cornmeal (aka raw polenta) and corn starch and sautéed them in a bit of canola oil. We loved them, the crust was perfection! I dipped mine in honey.

Roasted asparagus.

With cooking spray, salt, and a bit of lemon.

Lucky quinoa salad.

I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa, tossed it with 1 cup of canned black-eyed peas {for New Year’s luck!}, the leftover bbq sauce from the tofu, and some chopped green pepper. It was like a quick and dirty hoppin’ john.

For dessert we opened up the chocolate cream biscuit cookies we bought at Vineeta.

One serving each and I’m excited to eat the last three tomorrow. They were quite good.

How’d you spend the first day of 2013?

29Dec2012

Oh Baby Please Don’t Snow

by Emily

Hello, again. I didn’t blog the two days after Christmas because I got hit with a winter cold. I’m still feeling badly but I’m definitely on the mend. And yesterday was our 10th/5th anniversary! 10 years of being together and 5 of being married; they line up exactly because we made a point of getting married on our previous anniversary.

We spent yesterday doing our favorite things (sushi, froyo, a movie…) and just enjoying each other’s company. I don’t talk about it a lot on the blog, but I am so fortunate to have Adam in my life and I could not be happier. We both feel unbelievably lucky to get to be together. We watched our wedding video this morning and had a great time reminiscing. I’m going to try to get it up on YouTube if I can because it’s also hilarious! And there’s great footage of my grandpa giving a toast (a poem he wrote for the event) that made me cry. It is so amazing that we have his voice on record, it makes our wedding video all the more special to me.

Breakfast today was a big bowl of cereals.

All Bran Bran Buds, the last serving of Cascadian Farms Dark Chocolate Almond Granola (Adam ate through this stuff in a hurry!), toasted coconut, and skim milk.

I also had the rest of the dip (4-5 Tbsp?) with some kettle chips.

And this cookie butter candy bar that I found in the back of the pantry while putting away Christmas gifts.

Score!

The afternoon brought nachos (with black beans and salsa).

We need “tv watching food” for our “How I Met Your Mother Marathon.” <– it’s good, but no “Scrubs”

To drink, I had the organic aloe vera drink from Aloic.

I have missed aloe drinks like crazy since we moved away from Brooklyn (where you find find them in every bodega, in fabulous combinations with tasty tropical fruits) so when Aloic offered to send me two bottles to try I happily accepted. Here are the stats –

The drink’s taste was crisp and clean; it went down easy! And the pieces of aloe were fun to chew. If you’ve never tried an aloe drink with pulp, the closest comparison I can think of is the jelly that often comes with bubble tea. Delicious.

And I ate the last of the tree pasta with salt and evoo.

I really need to consume some veggies but my cold is making everything healthy sound terrible. Also, I have yet to go back to hot yoga and I can feel my wallet weeping with every missed class during my unlimited Groupon period.

I’m not going to post dinner, because I’m not sure yet what we’re having. Instead two updates –

1. The weather – it is freaking snowing!

That was the view from inside the car before Adam dug us out yesterday so we could go on our anniversary date.

2. My hair – it’s freaking purple!

I continue to lose dye with each shower (that’s clearly not right) and as the color gets lighter it becomes much more noticeable.

I love it!

24Dec2012

Use Your Noggin

by Emily

Hello, hello! The days I’m excited to blog are always the same days I’m utterly exhausted. Go figure. Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors but also a 9+ hour day at work. Instead of posting last night I had a total tantrum and passed out fully dressed… so here is a 2-day recap.

Remember when I said “Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors”? You know, like five seconds ago. Well, my day went eggnog –> candy cane –> gingerbread; bam!

Nog based overnight oats for breakfast.

I put 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup Silk Soy Nog, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds in the fridge overnight, then Saturday morning I added 1 sliced banana and a big dash of Christmas sprinkles.

So festive and delicious. Also, holy frick, I love chia seeds so much.

My candy cane came in the form of a Peppermint Stick Clif Bar during work.

This is Clif’s best seasonal flavor by far. The bar has the perfect amount of peppermint.

Gingerbread was a cupcake surprise from the husband.

He had an appointment near Fairy Cakes in the afternoon and he brought me home a gingerbread stout cupcake with cream cheese icing.

It was ridiculous good, maybe the best cupcake I’ve ever had! The cake had a great ratio of spice to sweet and was so fluffy and moist. I shared one big bite with Adam but downed the rest with gusto.

The rest of the day’s eats were out of season, but still good. From fall I borrowed an apple and a Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale.

I split the beer with Adam and ate the apple on my own.

I guess nachos are actually appropriate for any season, right?

Adam and I shared a tray, straight from the oven. We topped scoop-style tortilla chips with roasted brocoli and green pepper, Newman’s Own Pineapple Salsa, and Cabot Reserve Aged Cheddar.

We loved them. He was a little iffy on roasted brocoli as a nacho topping but it was delicious. And I was worried about that type of cheese versus a regular cheddar, but that ended up being perfect too. And the pineapple salsa is hands-down the best jarred salsa I’ve ever had.

Blah, blah, blah, and then I started having a fit and had to go to bed. I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep during the weeks Adam was gone and I’m still really freaking tired.

Sunday was a super hungry day and I ate a ton ~~of crap~~. A brunch of sorts, was low-fat coffee yogurt with honey roasted peanuts and honey,

a few pieces of toffee candy from home,

and several handfuls (about 3 servings or 250 calories worth) of dried turkey.

During work I drank a Starbucks Vanilla Doubleshot.

Working with crowds of Christmas shoppers is exhausting but also really rewarding. Five different people today thanked me effusively for my help and that was a really good feeling. Actually, one super hot guy told another customer that I was fantastic and I about died!

Adam picked me up after work for a fun treat.

Bubble tea from Gin Gin! Best bubble tea I’ve ever had, and I’ve tried a lot. I got a medium red bean milk tea with regular and popping boba (the purple one is Adam’s taro).

We both swooned over how good they were and finished our drinks in the car long before we made it home. And we called my mom on speaker on the drive and drove her crazy scraping through our ice for errant tapiocas!

Dinner was pizza.

And we shared a beer.

We were gearing up for a long night of baking.

I’m giving my co-workers all pies for Christmas and we are not even close to finished still. Sorry, husband!

We made smoothies mid-baking for strength. Frozen strawberries and blackberries blended with So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk.

And I’ve done a little nibbling while we baked.

I have a holiday breakfast with work tomorrow and then I’m spending Christmas Eve on the couch with Adam. I have two days off in a row for the holiday and I am so excited to spend them with my boys!

Did you give any handmade gifts this season?

21Dec2012

It’s Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

by Emily

We are four days away and it is starting to snow! We might have a white Christmas after all. Also, the world didn’t end today; yay.

Sorry I missed a post last night (after going on and on about how I was “back,” natch) but I was still running errands as the clock neared midnight. Two crazy days in a row are over and I’m ready to recap.

Thursday’s brunch included two of my best savory recipes.

A Nacho Turkey Burger topped with some Citrus Guacamole.

We even toasted our buns (in a hot skillet with a bit of Smart Balance Light) so the meal felt extra fancy.

I also had a deeelicious drink; 1 cup each Chameleon Cold Brew coffee and eggnog.

I know it’s cold out for iced coffee but I couldn’t resist the chance to pair my favorite coffee with my favorite winter flavor.

I worked 9+ hours and was sooooooo hungry when I got off. I would have loved to go straight home for dinner but we had errands to run so I ended up getting Moe’s instead.

But who would complain about Moe’s?

I got a naked burrito (aka a cheaper rice bowl) with rice, black beans, sautéed onions, green peppers, and mushrooms, lettuce, corn salsa, cilantro, guacamole, and sour cream.

Plus chips with queso.

I ate all of the queso, 2/3 of the chips, and 3/4 of the bowl.

When we finally made it home (more than 12 hours after I left!) there were presents from both sets of parents.

My mom sent us homemade toffee.

It was the perfect bedtime snack.

Friday I started with a salad. Romaine topped with 1.5 chopped turkey burgers, shredded cheese, a dollop of guacamole, buckwheat groats, and honey mustard dressing (I accidentally used way too much dressing and it was kind of gross, boo).

Also half a honeycrisp with 1 Tbsp each peanut butter and Biscoff spread, melted.

And I drank a Guava Rockstar Punched at work.

<– yum

I have the best bosses on earth and they surprised us with pizza for dinner mid-shift! It was too exciting. I had a a veggie slice and a buffalo chicken slice.

Mr. Pizza has the best crust in Buffalo.

And I won this candy bar.

When I got home I made myself eat fruits and veggies first though. A handful of baby carrots.

An ambrosia apple.

And finally my tasty snack.

1 serving of Green and Black’s Toffee Milk Chocolate Bar,

and a cup of eggnog mixed with Silk Soy Nog.

Topped with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Finally, some general updates –

My hair – I’m still leaving the tub purple after every shower and my new hair is a bit lighter than the original photo I showed you guys. I will have to have Adam snap a picture the next time I’m home during good light.
Christmas – we are not going to visit any family, boo. But Adam and I are going to have our first ever Christmas with just the two of us; it’s time that our little family started to develop some of our own traditions!

If you celebrate, where are you spending Christmas this year? Do you and your significant other have any of your own holiday traditions?